


Operation Grim Harvest

by Burgie



Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-30
Updated: 2017-10-15
Packaged: 2018-09-13 09:25:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9117661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: Mr Kembell starts Operation Grim Harvest, sending the Harvest Counties into organised chaos. Featuring Rebecca belonging to centeris2





	1. Chapter 1

It had been weeks since Mr Kembell had last seen sunlight. That had been when he’d been released from the mental institution, where he’d spent some time after suffering what his kind nurse assured him was a nervous breakdown brought on by stress. And, being the head of a company that was constantly under threat by those kooky druids and the eco-terrorists calling themselves CHILL, it was only natural for him to be under a lot of stress. His kind nurse had been so pretty and so calming, with her pretty blue eyes and pale blonde hair. Kate, her name had been. Mr Kembell still talked to her sometimes, after he awoke from nightmares of barbed shadows raking his skin.

But now, finally feeling normal again, it was time for Mr Kembell to strike back. Kate had said that his memories were just hallucinations, but he was certain that someone had slipped something into his water. And there were only two people who could do that- the druids and those eco-terrorists. They would stop at nothing to defeat him. Well, he wouldn’t be defeated so easily.

Sipping from a bottle of water (he didn’t trust tap or rain water, they were too easy to tamper with), Mr Kembell crossed his brightly-lit room to sit at his computer. After entering the several layers of passwords required to access it, Mr Kembell finally brought up his emails. He didn’t have many, though he glanced over the one from Jorflix and nodded approvingly at the suggestions. With nothing else to do (he refused to leave his room), he’d have plenty of time to watch those shows and movies later. But right now, he had work to do.

The message was short and simple, sent to one Ms Drake

“Begin Operation Grim Harvest”

Her reply was just as concise.

“As you wish”

Mr Kembell chuckled and sipped at his water again, then clicked into his Jorflix account. Much as he’d love to see the destruction firsthand, he just didn’t feel safe stepping outside. Besides, he was sure that Ms Drake would send through the footage.

In an abandoned observatory not far from Mr Kembell’s secret underground bunker, Mrs X gripped the side of her table.

“Are you sure?” she asked, her knuckles and face white beneath her protective coverings.

“Yes,” said Syntax. “It’s definitely from him and to her. No mistaking what it’s about, either.” Mrs X swore softly.

“I was afraid of this,” said Mrs X. “Send messages out to our allies. Tell the new ones to come here immediately. And tell our other members that Operation Empty Streets has begun.”

When Syntax left, Mrs X shuddered, fearing for the lives of everyone in the Harvest Counties. And for one life in particular. Though he didn’t live in Jarlaheim, he was in just as much danger. After all, he was living in a nest of vipers. Sunshine hadn’t been answering her phone, she’d probably left it in her pants and then forgotten to wear them again.

The two newest members of CHILL soon arrived, fortunately after Mrs X had managed to compose herself.

“Louisa, Rebecca, it is good to see you here,” said Mrs X. “We have entered a crucial stage. Our enemies have begun Operation Grim Harvest, so we must begin Operation Empty Streets.”

“That sounds ominous,” said Rebecca.

“Well, what they’re doing is,” said Mrs X. “Everyone at CHILL has their own jobs in this vitally important stage. Our aim is to stop our enemies from completing their vile plan. But, just in case, your job is to convince everyone in Jarlaheim to leave their homes.”

“What, just go around telling them to evacuate?” asked Louisa.

“Yes,” said Mrs X, nodding. “If you mention GED, they’ll be more willing to believe you. Well, hopefully, anyway.”

“And what if they don’t believe us?” asked Rebecca. “They trust us but they don’t really know us. Surely they’re not all going to just leave their homes because two young women told them to.”

“Well, should that occur, you may need to use a little chemical persuasion,” said Mrs X. “I have some hypnotic powder that you can use, but I hope that you won’t have to use it. I will give you a small amount to start off with, but you can come back and fetch more if you need to.” She handed both young women a small sachet of powder each, and Rebecca looked sceptically at it.

“So, what, we just drug the people who disagree with us?” asked Rebecca.

“It’s for their own good, Rebecca,” said Mrs X. “In times of danger, we must put our morals aside for the time being.”

“I don’t agree with it either but they’ll thank us when they’re still alive,” said Louisa.

“I hope that you won’t need to use the powder, but it’s there just in case,” said Mrs X. “Good luck.”

“And where will they go to?” asked Louisa.

“You know the old bunker?” asked Mrs X. Both women nodded. “Send them there.”

As Louisa and Rebecca left the observatory and headed to Jarlaheim, Louisa finally got a chance to catch up with her friend.

“Good thing Lisa finally managed to remove Thomas from there,” said Louisa.

“Yeah,” said Rebecca with a slight smile. “Evacuating them to a bunker with a zombie in it would kind of defeat the purpose of moving them to a safe place.”

“Why do all the good guys use drugs against the bad guys?” asked Louisa. “It feels wrong.”

“Right?” said Rebecca. “It really makes you wonder who’s right and who’s wrong.”

“Drugging the Dark Core guys was okay, they were actually evil,” said Louisa.

“Oh, definitely,” said Rebecca. “But we’re drugging innocent civilians this time.”

“Well, hopefully they listen,” said Louisa. “And we won’t have to use the powder.” Though even as she said it, she doubted it.

“And how will we use it, anyway?” asked Rebecca.

“Bring them some sort of beverage, I guess,” said Louisa. “Water, coffee, tea. Don’t worry, I can pay for it.”

“I can too,” said Rebecca. “I just really hope we don’t get caught. Ms Drake might get suspicious, seeing everyone leaving.”

“Do you want to distract her?” asked Louisa.

“Distract her how?” asked Rebecca.

“I dunno, be her little slave or something,” said Louisa.

“Of course you’d think of that,” said Rebecca with a laugh. “Why don’t you do it?”

“Because I suck at lying and you probably look better in a maid outfit,” said Louisa.

“Thanks for the compliment,” said Rebecca drily, then laughed. “Well, I guess it would be better than having to drug all those people.”

“The lesser of two evils,” said Louisa. “Do you have a maid outfit?”

“Can I borrow yours?” asked Rebecca.

“Ye- hey,” said Louisa, blushing. Rebecca giggled.

“But seriously, can I?” asked Rebecca.

“Yeah, okay,” said Louisa. “We just have to stop by Herman’s to get it.”

“I love that everyone has the same clothing size here,” said Rebecca.

“It is very handy,” said Louisa.

Half an hour later, Rebecca walked up to Ms Drake’s office, trying to stop her outfit from riding up her ass. She was glad that Louisa had got it from the dryer. The older blonde woman was standing outside her office as usual, surveying her future kingdom. She turned, her eyes widening, when she saw Rebecca.

“Hi, Ms Drake,” said Rebecca. “Would you like me to clean your office for you? You can supervise, of course, to make sure I don’t come across anything I shouldn’t.”

“Hmm, well it would be nice to have it cleaned,” said Ms Drake. “And I shall supervise. To make sure you don’t find anything you shouldn’t. Of course.”

Rebecca sent a signal to Louisa via Silversong counting once. Louisa took a deep breath, dismounted Goldmist, and walked up to the first door. She knocked.

“Hi, GED is going to be doing some important work, so you’ll have to evacuate,” said Louisa. It was probably better than telling them that GED was going to destroy their home. If they responded saying something bad about GED, she’d tell them where to go. If they responded being positive about GED, though, she’d return with some liquid persuasion.

“It’s not enough that they ran out all the farmers, they have to kick me out of my home, too,” said the woman who answered the door. She was old, and Louisa braced herself for a rant.

“If you’ll just make your way to the gate leading to Stormgarden, someone will show you where to go,” said Louisa.

“Alright, should I take anything?” asked the old woman.

“Um, anything you can’t live without. But not too much,” said Louisa.

“Alright,” said the old woman, and returned inside to pack.

Most of the residents were easy to persuade, all lamenting what GED had done to them. But one of them surprised Louisa with their fear.

“Oh God, are they going to do to us what they did to Hillcrest?” asked a younger woman.

“Yes,” said Louisa, nodding.

“Oh my God,” the woman moaned. “Of course I’ll go. Right away.”

Moving the farmers was the hard part.

“GED couldn’t get me to move, you can’t either,” said Idun. “Us Goldspurs are made of tougher stuff.”

“Can I get you a coffee?” asked Louisa. Not that it would help much, the café was closed. But she could make a coffee in the Goldspur kitchen if she had to.

“No. Bring me some water from the faucet, though. I find myself in need of a drink,” said Idun. Louisa tried not to look too nervous as Idun drank, and then she tried again.

“Idun, please, you have to move your family. GED is going to do something dangerous,” said Louisa.

“Hmm. Can I return home later?” asked Idun.

“Of course,” said Louisa. At least, she hoped so.

“Alright then,” said Idun. “Alexander! Hannibal! Come on, we’re leaving!”

Louisa had to give Jakob a ride to the gates, but finally, all of Jarlaheim had been safely evacuated. She sent a text message to Rebecca. Her phone buzzed again seconds later, and Louisa was amazed at how quickly she’d responded. Then she opened the message, and frowned at the weird code. She squinted at the screen, turned it around a few times, and then finally held it away from herself.

“O12?” Louisa muttered. “What?”

Rebecca rode up to Louisa a few minutes later.

“That was the most humiliating thing I’ve ever had to do,” said Rebecca.

“Can you figure out what this says?” asked Louisa, holding the phone out to her.

“I got it too,” said Rebecca. “Let’s go. Observatory 12.”

“Oh,” said Louisa. “That’s actually kind of obvious, isn’t it?”

“It’s okay, you’re just frazzled from having to convince so many strangers to evacuate,” said Rebecca, patting her on the head.

“Let’s see what we have to do next,” said Louisa. She was looking forward to the ride back with Rebecca. She could feel herself calming down already.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The plan progresses, but a wrench is thrown in.

Syntax cheered silently as the sound of male voices filtered into the room from his laptop speakers. It had taken hours, but finally, he’d managed to hack into the frequency that the GED employees were using for their radios. He looked around for someone to gloat to, but, for once, Silencia wasn’t there annoying him or trying to distract him from his work. She was lurking around the village and the town, as she’d been assigned to do for her part of this important mission. Instead, Syntax got his phone out and sent a message to Mrs X.

 _‘I’m in,’_ he sent.

 _‘I thought you were a serious hacker,’_ she sent back.

 _‘Sorry. I couldn’t help myself,’_ he sent.

 _‘Well done,’_ she sent. _‘Monitor the chatter and tell me if you hear anything important.’_

 _‘Will do,’_ he sent, and put his phone away. Now came the most boring part- listening to hours of unimportant chatter until he heard what he needed to hear. Syntax sighed and leaned back in his chair, opening up the voice to text program on his computer just in case he missed anything.

Back in the observatory, Mrs X grinned as she put her phone away (not that anybody would see the grin, but Rebecca smiled at the woman anyway).

“Good news?” asked Rebecca.

“Yes. Two phases of this plan have so far gone perfectly,” said Mrs X. “So, everyone was evacuated?”

“Yep, and we didn’t even need to use half of that powder,” said Louisa.

“Good,” said Mrs X. “So GED haven’t managed to poison the minds of the people like they’ve managed to poison the land.”

“Actually, we mostly had to use it on people who wouldn’t let GED chase them out of their homes,” said Louisa. “The people of the Harvest Counties are tough like that.”

“How do we know that you weren’t trying to kick them out, anyway?” asked Rebecca. “I mean, you’ve evicted them from their homes. The very thing they were afraid GED would do.”

“Didn’t Herman tell you about Operation Grim Harvest?” asked Mrs X.

“Yeah, bits of it,” said Louisa. “Something about blowing up a town the size of Jarlaheim.”

“Well, they’ve just put that plan into motion,” said Mrs X. “If you like, I can show you images of the explosives and other equipment GED has to do this.”

“That would be reassuring,” said Rebecca.

“Come on, then,” said Mrs X, leading the two of them through a set of doors that led deeper into the observatory. The new room was smaller, though it made sense when Louisa thought about how the observatory looked from the outside. There was a desk covered in paper, folders, files, and books, and a little potted sunflower wedged up the back. There was a computer hiding beneath the clutter, which Mrs X unearthed after moving aside some pieces of paper. She opened the laptop and powered it on, then sat down while she navigated to the right document.

“Oh, now I see,” said Rebecca as Mrs X brought up the document and several images and videos.

“Is that the stuff Mr Kembell was hiding in Firgrove?” asked Louisa, seeing several dangerous-looking barrels being transported in a video.

“It’s the same substance, yes,” said Mrs X. Rebecca leaned over her shoulder and read through some documents, her mouth opening in shock at what she read.

“Okay, so maybe you do have to bring out the big guns for this,” said Rebecca. “I still don’t feel great about drugging the residents, but the alternative is just…”

“I don’t wanna crowd you so what was the alternative?” asked Louisa.

“GED didn’t want a body count, so they were going to poison the water,” said Rebecca. “It’d make people sick, so then they’d leave to be safe.”

“And what was to stop them bringing in bottled water from outside?” asked Louisa.

“They also planned on weakening the structure of the city,” said Mrs X. “Either way, they would’ve succeeded in forcing everyone out eventually.”

“Yeah, I know, the things they use damage the environment,” said Louisa. “Remember the GED-o-Gell or whatever it was up at NorthLink?”

“Your memory is better than mine,” said Rebecca with a chuckle. “But yeah, they’re always trying to poison the environment. Or doing it without even trying.”

“Precisely,” said Mrs X. “So that’s why we had to force everyone out. I don’t feel good about it either but, well, you can see what they did to Hillcrest. And that was just accidentally.”

“Logically it makes sense, but they’ll probably say what I just said too,” said Rebecca. “If they ever find out what you did.”

“I know,” said Mrs X. “But for now, at least the townspeople are safe.”

“Anything for us to do now?” asked Louisa.

“Actually, yes,” said Mrs X, showing them out of her office. “Given how dangerous GED is, it might be wise to evacuate all of the Harvest Counties.”

“More drugging?” asked Louisa.

“I’m afraid so,” said Mrs X.

“Don’t worry, there’s no one to distract here so I can do most of the talking this time,” said Rebecca.

“Oh, thank the stars,” said Louisa. “We’d better get to it, then. Most of the people here are all clustered together, but there are a few farms.”

“Don’t worry about the Buttergoods,” said Mrs X. “They’re allies of GED. In fact, stay far away from them.” Louisa detected a hint of some deeper emotion in the woman’s words, but she chose not to comment on it. There was work to be done, and it couldn’t be bogged down by some huge angst-fest.

As the two young women headed out, Mrs X returned to her station up at the large telescope. It was still in good working order, maintained by herself. She positioned it to where she wanted to see, and saw a human-shaped spider named Silencia Tranquila sneaking around Crescent Moon Village.

Sometimes, Silencia tailed the two young women as they made their way from house to house. But for the most part, she kept to the shadows, and Mrs X knew that she was keeping a sharp ear out for any chatter. Silencia was like her boyfriend in that way, only she had bugging devices and her own spying techniques rather than the aid of hacking.

As she so often did, Mrs X turned her telescope again and again back to Butter Hill. It was stupid and painful, seeing her family associate so openly with the enemy. But there was one good egg left in the bunch. He hadn’t cracked or gone bad yet. Somehow. With a sigh, Mrs X stepped away from the telescope and grabbed her spare mobile phone out of the depths of her robes. She found the right contact, then typed out a message and sent it.

The buzzing of the mobile phone went unheard beneath the buzzing of angry bees outside and the shouting of one angry Pamela Moonriver.

“Alberta! I know you’re pregnant, but these mood swings are ridiculous! No, don’t bite me! Hayden! Hayden, come and take your child!”

“She did nothing wrong. It was your bratty bees, as usual. Hmph. It’s okay, Alberta, sweetie, I’ll take you away from those mean bees.”

A little farther up, Rebecca was teasing a blushing Louisa.

“I saw that look you gave him as we jumped over the bridge,” said Rebecca.

“Yes, Atlas is a very handsome horse,” said Louisa.

“You and I both know we weren’t talking about the horse,” said Rebecca. “Come on, you can have one exception. I’m sure Alex does.”

“I blame too many trashy romance novels,” said Louisa.

“He does have that look, doesn’t he?” said Rebecca. “Ah, the Buttergoods. They can butter my goods any day.” Louisa snickered, and they continued down through the cotton fields (well, Junior called them cotton fields, but Louisa had seen cotton fields and these didn’t look like them).

“Hey, you two,” said Robert, standing up. Louisa had to remind herself that he wasn’t Justin, but it took a second to remember. He looked so similar.

“Hi, Bobby,” said Rebecca.

“Hey,” said Louisa, pushing thoughts of Justin to the back of her mind. They would rescue him, just… eventually.

“What are you two up to?” asked Bobby. 

“Well, Mrs X said not to say, but we’re evacuating the town,” said Rebecca. “GED have put their big plan into motion.”

“Oh my goodness,” said Bobby, immediately straightening. “How can I help? I can’t believe she didn’t tell me!”

“There’s probably a reason she didn’t,” said Louisa. “But I guess the cat’s out of the bag now.”

“I’ll do whatever I can,” said Bobby.

“We need all the help we can get,” said Rebecca as they rode on and down into Crescent Moon Village.

Bobby headed for the machines, bag of sand in hand.

“This isn’t as small as you think it is,” said a female voice very close to his ear, making Bobby yelp and drop the bag, spilling sand onto the ground. He whirled around and saw a black-clad, dark-skinned woman standing beside him.

“Silencia, you frightened the life out of me,” said Bobby softly.

“If you keep up this stupid act, you won’t have a life much longer,” said Silencia. “Get out of here, Bobby. Go to the bunker.”

“But I know I can do this,” said Bobby. “If she could do it, I can too.”

“You’re not your mother, Robert,” said Silencia. “She had to fake her death, and she’s been in hiding ever since.”

“I know. She’s my greatest inspiration,” said Bobby. Silencia sighed. This was a wrench in their plans that they didn’t need. But harming Robert wasn’t allowed.

“Just be careful,” said Silencia. She had to report this back to Mrs X, no matter how much it disrupted plans.

Syntax was leaning back on his chair, but he slammed it back down onto all four legs when he heard one of the key phrases. He scrabbled to turn the volume up, even though it was as simple as holding in a key.

“Why do we have to move the prisoner again?” asked one gruff male voice.

“Dunno. Boss’ orders,” said another.

“Well, she’s not the one operating heavy machinery in these stupid goggles,” said the first voice.

“Well, we can’t take ‘em off. So just shut up and do it,” said the second voice. “If boss lady hears you complaining, it’s your head. And mine, since I’m your partner.”

They continued complaining after that, but Syntax was busy sending a message to his boss lady.

 _‘They’re moving Herman,’_ he sent, his thumbs flying over the keypad on the screen.

 _‘That’s strange,’_ Mrs X sent back. _‘Keep an ear out for any info as to why.’_

 _‘Will do,’_ Syntax sent, and then continued listening.

Pamela was rubbing her bee stings when she walked into her kitchen and saw her phone on the table. It had just lit up with a notification, but one of the texts below it made her gasp and forget all about her stinging arms as she grabbed the phone.

Immediately, Pamela ran out of her house and up to Butter Hill. She looked around for him frantically, but couldn’t find him. She cursed, gripping the phone tighter. There was nothing for it. She had to sneak closer to the mansion to see if she could hear anything.

Pamela snuck into the garden, wishing for more cover. There was only the rose bushes and the dead trees and thorn bushes. She ducked around the side of the house, straining to hear. She heard yelling, and she trembled. No. She was too late. Why had she missed that text?

“I don’t remember saying you could be here,” said a chillingly familiar voice, and Pamela dropped the phone as her eyes widened in fear. There was the sound of a punch, and the thud of a body hitting the ground. The phone’s screen was still lit up with the text.

_‘Make sure Bobby is safe. X’_


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wrenches are thrown into plans, so plans must be adjusted.

The room was too bright when Pamela woke up. She groaned, trying to put a hand to her throbbing head. But she couldn't move her arms. Immediately, fear took over her senses, bringing her to full wakefulness better than any coffee. Oh no. She'd been caught, she remembered. After Bobby had gone missing. And the last thing she'd heard had been Junior's voice. She strained against her bonds, but, despite her strength, the rope didn't budge. She finally fell back against the seat she was tied to with a grunt, fuming at herself for being so careless. Of course she'd been caught, up here literally on the doorstep of enemy territory. Curse her need to please Mrs X.

"Well, you're finally awake," said Junior, walking across the room. His footsteps echoed strangely, and Pamela deduced that they must be in the basement. Though, she didn't know that they had a basement. Not that it really surprised her when she thought about it. Junior leaned down, putting his hands on the table, and looked her in the eye. "I believe you have something that belongs to me."

"I have nothing that belongs to you, Junior," said Pamela, her voice cold. "Let me go."

"Maybe you do, maybe you don't," said Junior with a shrug. "But you might know something." He sat down in a metal folding seat on the other side of the metal table, and leaned into her face. "Where's my little brother, Pamela?"

"I don't know," said Pamela, pleased that she didn't have to try at all to keep the quaver out of her voice. She wasn't scared of Junior, he was all talk. His father was the real threat, but he was on death's door, last she heard. Junior growled, lifting both hands and slamming them down on the table again.

"Answer me!" he roared. "I know you've got secrets, Pamela, other people might think you're just the lady with the bees, but I know better. You and my brother are pretty good friends. So I'll ask you again: Where. Is. My. Brother?"

"I. Do. Not. Know," Pamela replied, clearly enunciating each word. "I thought you had him."

"He disappeared earlier this morning," said Junior.

"I was tending my bees when that happened," said Pamela. "Alberta overturned their hives and upset them again." Now Junior at least looked concerned.

"That's not gonna interrupt daddy's honey supply, is it?" asked Junior.

"No," said Pamela. "Although, I need to get back to them to calm them down or the honey will go sour."

"If only my daddy liked any other honey," said Junior, straightening up and walking around behind Pamela. She tried not to gag at his sour breath as he leaned in close to her to untie her wrists. He whispered in her ear, making her shudder in revulsion. "But if I find out you were behind my brother's disappearance, I'll convince daddy to like someone else's honey."

Pamela got up as soon as she was free from her bonds and left the room, relieved once she was finally out in the fresh air again. She felt like she could breathe now. Pamela hurried back down to her home, where she took her phone out of her pocket and sent a message to Mrs X. She was glad that Junior hadn't asked her about the message, though he probably would have if she hadn't managed to distract him with the bees.

 _'His brothers don't have him'_ , she sent. She would have called Mrs X, but the residents of Crescent Moon Village had big ears and even bigger mouths when it came to the Buttergoods. Many young people would do anything just to get their attention, which disgusted her. 

When Mrs X got the message, she began pacing the room in fear. Her last look through the telescope had showed her Bobby disappearing out of range, but he hadn't gone in the direction of the bunker. He'd headed down into the village, and then she'd lost him in the mists of the Mirror Marshes. He could be anywhere. Maybe he was sneaking directly into GED's compound, a thought which made her heart pound in fear. When GED was up to this crucial stage, they would have even higher security than usual. Jupiter had reported that more guards had appeared, and Syntax had confirmed that every single GED employee had been called into work today at the Hillcrest site.

The door to the observatory opened, and Mrs X stopped her pacing, staring wide-eyed at the door. Nobody was supposed to be back yet, and they'd tell her if they were returning. But, when the door closed and Mrs X's eyes readjusted to the gloom, she gasped and hurried over to the young man who'd just walked through the door so unexpectedly.

"Hi m-" Bobby started to say, but Mrs X took his arm, put her hand over his mouth, and hurried him over to the door leading to her office. Once they were through and the door was closed and locked, she allowed him to speak again.

"Bobby! What are you doing here?" asked Mrs X, wringing her hands in worry. "It's not safe here for you, or for anyone! You should be in the bunker with everyone else."

"I just wanted to help," said Bobby.

"Well, I don't want your help," said Mrs X. "You should go to the bunker, that'll help me plenty. At least then, I won't be so distracted worrying about you. I bet you didn't tell your brothers you were leaving, either. And were you followed?" She began pacing again, worrying her hands.

"No, I didn't tell them," said Bobby. "And don't worry, I'm pretty sure I wasn't followed."

"Anyone could have seen you coming up here," said Mrs X. "Anyone could have seen you leaving. What were you thinking?"

"I was just thinking that I wanted to help you," said Bobby. "I know that disrupting the work around home is helping a bit, but I want to do more for you."

"This is bigger than just putting sand in a few gas tanks or slipping some sleeping powder into coffee," said Mrs X. "Do you know what's going on right now, Bobby?"

"Well, Junior doesn't tell me or Scott anything about what's going on with GED, so no," said Bobby. "I did see that everyone was being evacuated, though, so it can't be good. And I want to help you, mum."

"Please don't call me that," said Mrs X. "At least, not where anyone can hear you. You know that it will blow my cover if people learn that I'm not dead."

"I know," said Bobby. "Sorry." Mrs X sighed.

"It's okay," said Mrs X, finally giving in to her motherly urges and hugging him. "I suppose that having you here will be just as safe as the bunker."

"Really? So I can stay?" asked Bobby.

"Yes," said Mrs X, nodding. "You can stay here, but be very, very careful. I don't want you out of my sight. There's more than enough room in this observatory to hold one more person, and we've been stockpiling food and other important supplies for this day for a long time, so we have plenty of supplies."

"Hopefully my brothers don't go looking for me," said Bobby.

"They view you as a petty criminal," said Mrs X. "You just do some light sabotage. Even though, after you helped us out at Bear Island..."

"Junior banished me to the cotton fields," said Bobby. "So he wasn't keeping an eye on me anyway, since he spent most of his time up at the main house."

"Oh, that's good," said Mrs X. "But are you sure that you didn't leave a trail? Not that Junior is particularly good at tracking people, but we can never be too careful." She'd been this paranoid when she was 'alive', too, so Bobby didn't comment on her current paranoia. Especially not when the situation was this dire.

"Yes, I'm positive," said Bobby, nodding. "I stuck to the path and made sure not to step in any mud. Scott is busy working on the bridge and flirting with young women, and nobody saw me leave. I wasn't exactly a ninja like Silencia, but I was careful."

"I taught you well," said Mrs X. Her computer dinged with an email alert, and Mrs X finally sat down behind her desk, Bobby walking around it to stand behind her. She didn't mind, after all, she knew that Bobby was a pro at keeping secrets. Especially when they were his mother's secrets. Mrs X clicked onto the new email, and sighed in relief when she read Pamela's email. Though it seemed scary to start off with, given that it was a recount of when Junior had recently caught her snooping around the main house, it was a relief to know that Junior was none the wiser about Bobby's disappearance. He knew that he was gone, but not where he'd gone.

"That shouting must've been Junior yelling at Scott for not keeping an eye on me," said Bobby. "But how can he expect Scott to keep an eye on me when he has Scott working on the bridge?"

"Your brother is slightly stupid, though it doesn't make him any less dangerous," said Mrs X, replying to Pamela's email to inform her that Bobby was right here with her and that he was relatively safe.

"Sorry I got Pamela in trouble," said Bobby. "I'll be sure to apologise to her next time I see her."

"If your brother lets you leave the house," said Mrs X. She sighed. "Bobby, that stunt you just pulled was extremely dangerous, and there will be repercussions. That is, if we all make it out of this alive and if our plan works..."

"What is our plan?" asked Bobby.

"Operation Empty Streets," said Mrs X. "GED has activated Operation Grim Harvest, so we are emptying the Harvest Counties and moving all of the residents to the bunker on Shipwreck Shores."

"Except the bad guys," said Bobby.

"You have your own private bunker," Mrs X reminded him. "Your father built it a long time ago, back when the ancient war came here. It always seems to come back to Epona, but I don't know why. But that's a mystery for another time. The important thing is that I trust that you would have been moved to that bunker when the plan came to fruition."

"That makes me feel better," said Bobby. "I hate Junior and dad, but I don't want them to die. And if Scott died, I think half the community would go into mourning out of heartbreak." Mrs X chuckled.

"He's grown into a handsome young man, hasn't he?" said Mrs X. "Too bad he can't be involved in this, he'd make a good distraction."

"With the guards?" asked Bobby, confused. Mrs X sighed and patted his hand.

"Oh, my poor, naive little son," said Mrs X. "Gay people exist."

"I forgot about that," Bobby muttered, blushing. Mrs X chuckled.

"It's okay," said Mrs X. "Now, I'm trying to think of what you can do to help, other than stay here with me so I know that you're safe."

"I could put sleeping powder or laxatives in their coffee," said Bobby.

"The situation is too dire for such silly things as that, I'm afraid," said Mrs X. "I'll think of something. For now, you just stay right here where I can see you."

In New Hillcrest, Louisa and Rebecca's mission had been paused momentarily by one miss Hawaii Jones.

"Why are we being evacuated?" asked Hawaii. "Is something exciting about to happen? Is the old volcano reawakening?"

"No," said Rebecca. "Though it might help us if it was. But no, that's not the reason."

"GED is planning something dangerous, and we think that it's going to happen either today or very soon," said Louisa.

"Can I help?" asked Hawaii, her eyes round and bright with excitement. "I've been dying for another fun adventure."

"Umm," Rebecca and Louisa both said, looking at each other.

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea," said Rebecca. "We'd have to ask our boss about that."

"Oh, please," Hawaii begged, holding her hands up in front of her in the begging gesture. "I know that I can help you, after all, I learned many skills from reading my ancestor's journal."

"I dunno," said Louisa. "Didn't you have a broken leg?"

"Huh? Oh, it got better," said Hawaii, stretching her previously-injured leg out and wiggling her foot around.

"Well, I suppose it'll be better to have you with us rather than working alone and accidentally ruining our plans," said Rebecca. "Louisa, take her to our leader." Louisa snorted at the wording, but took Hawaii and led her through the Mirror Marshes and up to the observatory.

"Oh no, another one?" said Mrs X, groaning as she caught sight of Hawaii entering the room with Louisa and looking around with wide eyes, taking everything in.

"Sorry," said Louisa. "We tried to get her to evacuate, but she wouldn't listen."

"I'm not going to sit in a bunker and miss out on a big adventure," said Hawaii, planting her hands on her hips. "That's just not the Jones way!"

"Oh, you're a Jones," said Mrs X. "You might actually be of great benefit to us, with all of your knowledge. Tell me, do you know how to break someone out of prison by grabbing them while they're being transferred?" Hawaii scoffed.

"That's so easy," said Hawaii. "Just tell me who, where, and when, and I'll have the prisoner free before you can say 'Alcatraz'."

"Brilliant," said Mrs X, bringing her hands together in delight. "I'll just get Syntax to bring you up to speed on what's happening with that."

"And don't worry, I can keep a secret," said Hawaii. "For the sake of adventure!" Her eyes twinkled, and Louisa hoped that inviting Hawaii into their group hadn't been a huge mistake.


End file.
